Broken

by DiveBomb

Chapter Ten-Pieces

Broken: Chapter Ten, Pieces

Rainbow Dash held Applejack in her forelegs for a long time, silent tears of pure happiness and relief escaping their eyes. They stayed like this for an unknown amount of time, unable to let one another go. Eventually Applejack had climbed up onto the small hospital bed after shutting off the light, letting the beautiful vista of the full moon in the window slightly illuminate the room. The two mares laid on their uninjured sides, facing each other with fondness in their eyes. Rainbow ran a bandaged hoof across the orange mare's cheek and through her disheveled blonde mane. It had actually happened; Applejack was hers. Not only had they kissed, but she had returned Rainbow's undying love. Maybe Dash had died, and this was her own, personal Heaven. She knew that the idea was ridiculous, but Heaven was the only thing that she could compare this moment with. All of her heartache from the past four years was finally satisfied. The past two weeks were now behind her, and she simply couldn't believe it. As Rainbow reflected on these thoughts, she felt a fresh tear spill over her quivering cheek, only to be wiped away by a nuzzle from the farmpony. The pegasus whimpered from the touch.

"Rainbow," Applejack started, her voice soft and beautiful. "What's wrong?"

"I'm j-just so happy," cried Dash, reaching out and holding Applejack close with her forehead against her chest. The orange mare placed a hoof to the back of Rainbow's head, stroking her mane gently. "Everything that's happened...all the stupid things I've done...None of it matters anymore, 'cause I have you, here and now. I just...I just don't know how to deal with it."

"Ya' don't know how ta' be happy?" asked Applejack with a cocked eyebrow.

"No I do but it's just...I dunno how to be this happy," Dash replied, breaking down again. The orange mare wiped away her tears, uttering a calming shush.

"Now, now. No more tears Sugarcube, Ah gotchya'," she whispered into her ear. Rainbow sniffed, embracing her love.

"Why Applejack?"

"Why what?"

"Why all of a sudden, do you love me?" asked Dash. "You've always been, well...against mares being together."
Applejack hesitated, looking unaware of what to say.

"It's the way Ah was brought up Rainbow," she started. "So when ya' first told me about yer feelin's, Ah guess Ah didn't know how ta' take it. At first Ah knew that you were mah friend, nothin' more. But then Rarity asked me if that was how Ah really felt."

"Why would she ask that?"

"Because of how Ah reacted to ya' movin," Applejack answered. "An' 'cause o' how Ah...Rainbow when Ah heard tha' ya'll lost yer job right after Ah rejected ya'...Ah couldn't take it. Ah felt so darn guilty, like it was mah fault. Ah had ta' go an' find ya', jus' ta' make sure ya'll were okay."

Rainbow's eyes widened when she started to put the pieces together. The night when Fluttershy gave her the letter of her termination was when she sat upon that high cloud. The night when she considered leaving everything behind, when she cried like a filly while speaking to her dead parents. She couldn't have heard that. Dash was too high off the ground at the time. Applejack would have to be higher up, standing on a cloud or something.

"Then Ah found ya'. Rainbow Ah...Ah heard everything," whispered the orange mare, giving her a look of sorrowful concern. The cyan pegasus gasped, retreating her head under the sheets. Even being this close to Applejack now, she couldn't bear to know that somepony had heard that. "Rainbow it's okay. In fact, it was the sweetest thing Ah've ever heard."

Applejack removed the covers from Dash's crimson face, planting a kiss to her lips. If there was anything that made her feel better, it was the orange mare's kiss. Suddenly she didn't care what Applejack had heard, for it only made them closer. The pegasus felt her body go limp, simply complying with anything that Applejack was doing to her. Rainbow never knew how submissive she was when it came these kinds of things. She had never been with another pony, and the only one she ever thought of was Applejack. The farmpony rolled on top of her, straddling the pegasus' hips while sliding her tongue into her mouth. Rainbow uttered a shuddering breath through her nose as her cheeks lit up, wondering with a muddled mind where this was going. She didn't care about the ache in her side, nor the searing pain in her right foreleg. Suddenly Applejack sprung up, leaning over the panting pegasus. The orange mare's cheeks were blazing red, looking on either side of Dash.

"Um, are ya'll feelin' alright Sug'?" she asked, clearly embarrassed. Rainbow caught her breath, wondering what she was taking about. She have to think too long, for she traced Applejack's gaze to find that both of her wings were standing straight out on either side of the bed, completely rigid.

"Oh! Uhm..." Rainbow breathed. "That...happens. Don't worry about it."

"Are ya' sure?" she asked, hesitantly touching her right wing. Rainbow's mind exploded with a new, unfamiliar sensation as the orange mare lightly caressed her feathers with a hoof. She attempted to stop her until she felt a shuddering gasp of ecstasy escape her lips.

"A-Applejack! Don't do that!" Rainbow breathed, panting heavily as she held her back. Applejack's face lit up with realization as it grew redder than before.

"Oh! Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't know, Ah was just curious," she stammered before placing a hoof over her mouth, clearly stifling a snicker. "Maybe Ah shouldn't do tha' jus' yet."

Applejack slowly dismounted Dash, returning to her side. The pegasus rolled over and faced the orange mare with closed eyes. She did what she could to calm down, thankful that they didn't take such a new relationship too fast. Rainbow had been waiting for this to happen for years now, and didn't want anything to screw it up. Despite her right hind leg twitching in apprehension, Rainbow bit her lip and opened her eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that," Applejack giggled. "Not exactly well-informed on pegasus...um, anatomy."

"It's okay," said Dash once she caught her breath. "Let's just take it slow. I don't want to ruin what we have...we do have something right?"
Applejack laughed.

"O' course we do Dash," she said. "Despite what's been said, and everthin' tha's happened, Ah wanna be with ya'. Because Ah love you Rainbow."

"Mmm," Dash half-swooned, delighted to hear her say her name. "Say that again."

"Ah love you?"

"No, my name."

"Wha'? Why?"

"I love the way you say it," Rainbow replied, wrapping her hooves around Applejack's neck, burying her face into the blonde mane. The orange mare chuckled.

"Hmmhmm...Ah love you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow sighed with delight, finally able to fall asleep with her mind at peace.

Rainbow Dash awoke the next morning, finding a small smile upon her face. She rolled over away from the window to find Applejack, awake and staring into her eyes. She had left the bed, standing to its side. Dash sighed with content as her marefriend gave her a good-morning kiss, light but passionate.

"Aaaaaawwwwwww!" squealed a voice. Rainbow lurched into the air, falling to the cold linoleum floor with a loud thud. Pain exploded from her side, her bruised lungs heaving.

"Rainbow!" cried Applejack, running around to the other side of the bed, trying to help her up. Dash couldn't move, the fall had taken the wind from her chest. Suddenly she felt herself float upwards, surrounded by a violet light before she was placed lightly upon the mattress. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stood on the right side of the bed, accompanied by Doctor Stable. Dash felt her face heat up as her eyes widened.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rarity scolded. The pink mare had a hoof to her mouth.

"I'm sorry Dashie!" she said. "I couldn't help it, that was soooooo cute!"
Rainbow didn't move, unable to find what to say.

"They all know Rainbow, sorry," said Applejack as the pegasus slowly sat up, grunting in pain. It didn't matter all that much to Dash, but the initial shock was a lot to handle this early in the morning. This wasn't the way she wanted her friends to find out.

"No it's...okay," Rainbow yawned. Doctor Stable chuckled, floating a clipboard on front of him.

"Well it's good to see you're still alright," he said, using his magic to flip through the papers on the board. "Well let's run through this quickly, I imagine you all have a lot to talk about. You have a bruised lung, several lacerations along your side and flank, and a severe wound down your right foreleg and hoof. That's what you almost bled out through. It was stitched up immediately once you arrived. But I must ask, what happened to your chest? There's no way it healed that fast since the surgery."

Rainbow looked down, remembering the odd event at her temporary home above the mountains. She didn't know how to explain the phenomenon. The red light, the glow of the Element of Loyalty on her chest fading away as quickly as it appeared. At the time she didn't dwell on it, for her home was in dire need. But now that she thought about it, it didn't make much sense to her. Did it need to make sense? Dash looked to Fluttershy, the only other pony that had been there to witness the event. She gave her a simple shrug, clearly unaware of how to explain it either.

"Ya' know Doc, I don't have a clue," said Rainbow, chuckling slightly. "But I can't complain."

"Well after yesterday's events, I'm not about to question it further either," smiled Stable. "You actually have another visitor though, one that I don't think you could refuse."

"Who?" asked Dash. Doctor Stable merely smiled, opening the door behind him and departing. Rainbow looked to her friends, whom all shared her look of confusion. The door opened again, revealing a shimmering, waving mane as a tall white alicorn entered the room. Princess Celestia smiled as the door was closed behind her.

"Princess!" exclaimed Twilight as the six of them bowed their heads.

"Hello my little ponies," announced the royal mare. "Ponyville has been struck by a terrible tragedy, and I'm greatly relieved to see you all alive and breathing. I have come to not only make sure you were all alright, but to also congratulate you. The six of you have done extremely well keeping ponykind from taking a crushing blow. But I wish to thank three of you specifically for your incredible acts of bravery during the battle yesterday."
She looked to Applejack, whom stood straighter now.

"Applejack, Pinkie Pie. I was told of your doings yesterday, and I must say that I am impressed. You both singlehoofedly engaged a multitude of griphons on your own, and won. Your victories yesterday have not gone unnoticed, and never will," said the Princess. After, she turned to Rainbow. "And you Rainbow Dash, you I have to thank most of all."
Dash shifted oddly in her bed, trying to sit up straight.

"Rainbow Dash, you stopped the leader of the griphon army with your spectacular flight skills, and even risked your own life in doing so. You did what no pony could, and will receive nothing but praise from ponies all across Equestria."

"Thank you Princess," was all that the cyan pegasus could say.

"Actually," the alicorn continued. "Ponies have been trying to come in to thank you all morning. Doctor Stable had to tell them all to leave."

"Wait, how did they know what happened?" asked Rainbow, cocking an eyebrow. Twilight was the one to answer:

"Rainbow, the entire town saw you defeat Gilda," she said matter-of-factly. "After the battle everypony went to the fields and found you two fighting. Applejack got there first, of course."
Rainbow gave Applejack an appreciative look before returning to the Princess.

"I hope you're ready for attention, I assume that the press is going to be all over you for an interview," noted Celestia, a chuckle in her voice. She then used her magic to retrieve a photograph from underneath her wing, floating it over to Dash's hooves. Her five friends gathered around, curious to see what the picture was of. There was a heavy glare on the photo, but Rainbow could still make out the details. The picture was taken as the shock wave of the Sonic Rainboom broke through the prismatic-illuminated thunderhead, bright bolts of lightning arching around the storm. From under the maelstrom Rainbow saw herself, flying downward with the solid, multicolored trail marking her trajectory. Her friends all gasped at the photo, remembering the event.

"Wow, that's a really good picture," noted Twilight in surprise.

"Yeah! Whaddya call that move Dashie?" asked Pinkie Pie. The photo shook between Dash's hooves as realization overtook her.

"I call it murder," said Rainbow in little more than a whisper. She never had a chance to think about it until now. Dash had killed another being. That may have been where the battle had turned to, but the guilt of taking another life was overwhelming. She knew that if she didn't stop Gilda, she would have done the same to her, but somehow that didn't calm her mind. Her friends all gave her an off look, unable to understand what she meant. Although, the alicorn seemed to know.

"Now Rainbow Dash," she started. "You did what you had to do. If you weren't there to defeat Gilda, Ponyville would be facing a much worse fate."

"I...I guess, thank you again Princess," sighed Rainbow. Applejack gave her an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek, causing her coat to stand up on the back of her neck. The alicorn smiled at this.

"At least you have somepony who cares so much about you, as well as your friends," said the Princess. "Well I have plenty of duties regarding the rebuild of Ponyville. So I must go, but Applejack..." she turned back to the orange mare. "Appleloosa has been released from the griphons. They heard of their leader's perish and immediately left the town in peace. Your family is unharmed."
Applejack's heart seemed to lighten as she wore a look of relief. "Thank ya' yer majesty."

With that Princess Celestia left the room, leaving Rainbow alone with her five best friends. So much had happened in the past two weeks; heartbreak, devastation, realization and then a blooming flower that was her happiness. Even through the immense amount of physical and emotional pain she had endured, Rainbow Dash was finally happy. She had returned to Ponyville, conquered an enormously impenetrable enemy and had made a relationship with the mare she couldn't stop loving. The cyan pegasus reached a hoof out, guiding Applejack into a warm, appreciative hug. Her marefriend kissed her atop the forehead, giving her a small smile.

"I've never seen you two so at peace," noted Twilight with a sense of happiness.

"That's 'cause Ah've never known what love was," said Applejack, looking to Rainbow. "You?"

"Don't play around, you know it's the same here," Dash smiled before giving her a quick kiss on Applejack's adorable freckled cheek. She then turned to Fluttershy.

"You know 'Shy? I never thanked you for doing what you did."

"What?" asked the yellow pegasus. "What did I do?"

"You reminded me of who I was," Dash replied. "You gave me the wake-up call that I needed. If you didn't come find me, who knows what could've happened yesterday. Thank you Fluttershy."

The yellow mare smiled. "I'm just happy it all worked out."

"Not ta' interrupt, but what did she do ta' make ya'll come back?" Applejack asked Rainbow, whom merely pointed to her own blackened eye. Everypony in the room except for Fluttershy burst out laughing.

"Wh-What?!" Twilight exclaimed through chuckling breaths. "Fluttershy punched you? That's...ppffffffthahaha!"

They spent the morning talking of the previous day's events, from Applejack's and Pinkie Pie's triumph over multiple foes, to Rainbow Dash's spectacular Sonic Rainboom in the midst of the deadly storm. Pinkie Pie had adapted a name to the event, calling it the Sonic Thunderboom. Dash merely smiled at that. In fact, she barely contributed anything to the conversations more than a nod or a smile. There wasn't anything wrong with her, Rainbow was merely letting her body finally relax, having been stressed and pressed to beyond its limits in the past two weeks. Twilight was right, Rainbow was simply at peace with her life.

Eventually Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had left, having their own duties to perform to aid the rebuild of the town. Applejack had stayed behind, not wanting to leave her mare's side.

"Don't you have work to do on the farm?" asked Dash regretfully. She didn't want her to leave but didn't want Applejack to be scolded by her family.

"Naw, they're fine. Ah made sure tha' the farm hadn't been harmed before Ah came here. Besides, why would Ah wanna leave?" she asked, giving Dash a quick kiss.

"Are you gonna be okay? You're still hurt really bad," said the pegasus, gesturing the orange mare's injuries.

"Ah'll be fine Sug. Ya' know me, Ah don't let a few bruises keep me from goin'."

"That's why I love you," whispered Rainbow, pulling her in for a hug. Applejack returned the embrace.

"Ah hope tha's not all," she mused. Rainbow let her go.

"You want the whole thing?"

"It'd be nice," said the orange mare before holding Dash's hoof between her own. "Tell me everythin'."
Rainbow Dash sighed, not having to try too hard to recall every reason why her heart beat Applejack's name.

"Well..." she started, hating how bad she was with words. "Because you're strong. The way you stick by your family and work so hard every day, I don't know how you do it without going crazy. You're just...different. But in a good way. You're not like any pony I've met before. You...argh...I'm so bad at this. Maybe it's because you're so much like me, where nopony else is. When I look at you I just know, you know?"

"Yeah, Ah know alright," said Applejack softly. "Ah couldn't put it better mahself."

It took a week for Doctor Stable to finally let Rainbow Dash leave the confines of the hospital, although with her foreleg still bandaged, along with a small section of her side that still hadn't quite healed yet. Eventually Applejack had to leave halfway through the week, for she couldn't stay away from the farm forever. Once she walked through the lobby, dozens of patients and medical staff awaited her departure, either stomping or clopping their hooves. They cheered her name, thanking Rainbow for saving ponykind. Dash briefly thanked them, eager to take to the skies once again. However, she was stopped by a young pair of siblings, each holding up a quill and paper. Rainbow smiled. She had never been asked for an autograph before, save for Scootaloo. She signed the papers for the filly and the colt, wincing from the flash of a camera. Apparently their parents were huge fans as well. In the past Rainbow Dash would completely welcome the attention, responding with some sort of boastful rant. But after the events that had taken place that month, for some reason it just seemed silly.

Rainbow Dash left the hospital as fast as she could, instantly taking off into the sky, accompanied by the cheers of her new fans. Is this what it's like to be a Wonderbolt? she thought. It's nice but...maybe I'm just not in the mood for it. Rainbow felt an incredible sense of freedom in the air after a week of being grounded. She flew high above the town, watching as construction ponies and volunteers did what they could to rebuild the devastated town. Seven days had went by since they started, and it was almost done already. The only sign of Ponyville ever being under attack was the sections of cobblestone being replaced where bombs had detonated. Everything was starting to come together, save for a blackened crater in the middle of the residential area of the town. The neighborhood was far enough away from the shopping district to be harmed by the battle, except for the flattened section of land where there used to be a house. Rainbow's heart dropped into her stomach when she saw Scootaloo sitting on her haunches in the middle of the crater. Dash immediately dove to the ground, almost sideswiping the roof of a rather high house. The cyan pegasus skidded to a halt next to the orange filly. Scootaloo sobbed with her head low, not giving Rainbow any sort of acknowledgment.

"Scootaloo, what happened?!"

"Th-They..." Scootaloo shuddered. "They're g-gone Rainbow D-Dash..."

"Who? Who's gone?" Rainbow urged, praying to Celestia that her suspicions were incorrect.

"M-M-Mommy...Daddy...They're g-gone!" Scootaloo leaped into Dash's forehooves, sobbing uncontrollably. Rainbow's eyes widened, unable to register what the filly had said.

"Oh no...Scootaloo, I'm so..." Rainbow couldn't even finish the sentence. Tears had started to form in her own eyes now, for she knew exactly what the poor little pegasus was going through. Dash knew from experience that words wouldn't do a thing to help, so she merely held the sobbing filly, rubbing the back of her purple mane with a calming hoof.

"I'm so sorry Scoot, I'm so sorry."

Rainbow did everything she could to wordlessly comfort Scootaloo, knowing full and well of how little it really did. It took a while, but eventually the orange filly had dehydrated herself, hiccuping in Dash's forelegs.

"Hey come on, you need something to drink," said Rainbow, placing a hoof to Scootaloo's shoulder as they stood up. The pegasus filly ruffled her feathers with a tearful sniff. She didn't say a word as Rainbow led her to a nearby convenient store on the outside of town. The clerk recognized the cyan pegasus and refused to let her pay for the bottle of water. Rainbow didn't argue, her mind on Scootaloo's loss. As they left the outskirts of Ponyville, Rainbow helped the filly onto her back and flew her to her cloud home. It had been refilled with her boxes and her pet tortoise, Tank. Fluttershy had made sure that her belongings as well as Tank had made it back in one piece, brought by the mover pegasi.

Rainbow made sure that Scootaloo drank as much as she could, she needed to replenish as many fluids as possible. Once the bottle had been emptied, the orange filly spoke again:

"Thank you Rainbow Dash," she said in little more than a whisper. "I just...I just don't know what to do..."

"You know Scoot," Dash started. "The same thing happened to me. My parents died when I was your age."
Scootaloo's head shot up, eyes widening. "Wh-What?"

"Yeah, you're not alone kid," Dash said, pulling her in for a reassuring hug. "What happened?"

"Well...I was out of town on a trip with Sweetie Bell. We were visiting Manehatten with her parents. We just got back today after we heard about the attack. I got h-home about an hour ago when I saw..." Scootaloo paused, trying her best to hold back more tears. "One of our neighbors told me...they told me that my parents were home when a bomb flew through the window...the f-f-f-funeral is in a few d-days."
Scootaloo went back to sobbing against Rainbow's shoulder, both sitting on their haunches.

"Wh-What do I do Dash? My family is gone! I have nowhere to go!"

Rainbow Dash said no more, only holding the crying filly. She couldn't help but feel reminiscent of her own past. Scootaloo was so much like Rainbow, it was uncanny. Everything from her need to fly, to the loss of her parents at such a young age. It was like she was looking at her past self, just with an orange coat and a purple mane. Suddenly something hit the cyan pegasus like a brick wall. An idea. An idea so perfect that it was too ridiculous to ignore. It was a huge step in both their lives, so Dash decided to wait until morning so the filly could think about it with a clear mind.

Rainbow Dash awoke to the bright, rising sun showing through the window. Scootaloo had cried herself to sleep the previous night, and the cyan pegasus had placed a warm wing over her. Tank noticed her awake, and toed over to give Dash an affectionate head butt. Scootaloo stirred, her eyes fluttering open. The orange filly yawned, slowly getting up and onto her haunches. Dash couldn't wait to tell the little pegasus her idea. She nudged her to attention, telling her the idea.

"What?" Scootaloo gasped. "Y-You...You'd do that?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it?" asked Rainbow. "So how 'bout it?"
Scootaloo hugged Dash, eternally grateful. "Of course Dash!"

Rainbow Dash walked into Mayor Mare's office, Scootaloo at her side. The Mayor of Ponyville positively beamed when she saw the cyan pegasus, and as she had guessed, Mare started with words of congratulation:

"Oh Miss Rainbow Dash, there you are! I've been waiting to thank and congratulate you on your heroic-"
Rainbow held up a polite hoof to stop her.

"Thank you Mayor, but I'm not here for that. You can thank me all you want some other time."

"But of course. Now, how can I help you Miss Dash?" asked Mare from behind her large desk. Rainbow looked back to Scootaloo, whom nodded, sure that she still wanted to do this. Rainbow Dash smiled, turning back to Mayor Mare.

"I would like to adopt Scootaloo as my little sister."

Comments

[jokerpony]

another excellent chapter you have here. it honestly didn't feel any shorter than any of your other chapters so no worries there with the length.

[warden006]

is this a new beginning?

OH I sense so much potential!

She should just adopt her as her daughter already

[DiveBomb]

356131 Daughter? I dunno none of the Mane Six seem old enough to be parents. The show may not specify their exact ages, but their personalities don't seem...well, I dunno. Just seems odd to me, but so don't RariDash fics, and there's still a lot of em.

[Spirit Wind]

356155
IIRC: Lauren Faust stated that the mental age of the mane 6 was lower than their physical age.

do not quote: roughly 17-20 mental. 20-25 physical.

I remember reading an article on it somewhere.

[Bass Thump]

i just literally hugged my computer screen!!! Love the ending!!!!!!

[ObligedShelf7]

I hate you so much right now because you have made me cry twice now.

[Bilbo Swaggins]

So after apple jack confesses her love to RD they sleep together and kiss a lot. Cuz that's what couples do right after getting together.
Liked the scootoloo thing though
Also confused. Y r there more chapter after this. This should be the epilogue!